2013 Ford F-250 - Project Super Dirty: Part 1

The 2013 Ultimate Adventure is around the corner, and we’re about to get crackin’ on our project truck. If you’re new to 4WOR then you may be wondering what this Ultimate Adventure is all about, so here’s the 10-cent story. One week every summer we go on a four-wheeling road trip with a few close friends, advertisers, and readers. We camp, cruise backroads, and do every type of off-roading we can find from mud to rocks to sand to . . . well, more mud! To lead this parade of wild 4x4s we choose an official vehicle a few months prior and begin building it up to be the official 4x4 of the UA. This vehicle must be street capable for long road days and able to wheel the roughest trails in any given area of the country, all while hauling our camping, camera, and trail gear. In fact, this truck is just like most of your trucks, a tough, handy, do-it-all that is still fun to go play in.

One benefit of Project Super Dirty is
the power-to-weight ratio. The 6.7L
Power Stroke
pumps out
400 horses
and 800 lb-ft,
and when you
delete every amenity
the modern man
thinks he needs you also delete weight.
The power makes it feel like a rocket. We
admit that those amenities would be great
for a tow rig, but we’re building a trail truck.
Less is more for what we have in mind, thus we
5 picked the regular cab option.

This year’s 4x4 of choice has been crowned, and it is a new Ford F-250 Super Duty. The Super Duty is well known for being a tough-as-nails workingman’s machine. We chose the most basic of basic F-250s with the XL package (heh heh, that’s what she said). Our new Ford has that new-car smell but nary a creature comfort save a heater and an AM/FM radio. No power windows, no power door locks, no power nothin’ except for the bad mammo-jammo Power Stroke diesel hiding under the hood. Yep, we’re building a no-frills machine you would find on a job site or pulling a heavy work trailer, but from these humble (and by “humble” we do not mean ho-hum since it’s dumping 400 ponies and 800 lb-ft) beginnings we’re going to cut, grind, and weld together a big mean wheeling machine.

Super Duty trucks have many great starting
components like Dana 60 front axles,
optional locking rear differentials, and selectable
hubs. We’re planning on keeping most
of what our truck came with but twisting,
tweaking, and modifying it for optimal off-road
awesomeness! We’re not spilling the beans
just yet, but we can tell you that this Ford truck
should bring a whole new meaning to the slogan
“Built Ford Tough.”

This is just the intro to our build. The truck is still pretty and clean with that new-car smell, but we can guarantee in a few short months it will be earning its stripes on the trail, thus its moniker, Project Super Dirty. Check back in 30 days to see how we take this plain-Jane truck and make it our own ultimate Ford.